Over the weekend, we took a nice little day trip from our home just north of Austin, up to the little college town of Waco, Texas. We met up with some dear friends and spent the morning at the Cameron Park Zoo - which is a lovely little Zoo (dare I say a whole lot nicer than our little Animal Sanctuary here in Austin? Yes! ;) After our morning at the zoo, we were ready for some lunch. So, we decided to head into the center of town to the new and much-talked-about Magnolia Market.
Let me start by being honest. We do not own a television set, and have never seen "Fixer Upper". I really have no clue who Joanna and Chip Gaines are, or exactly what they do (GASP!). Hence, I am no expert and I had zero expectations when we parked by the train tracks across the street from the market. As we rounded the street corner near the huge silos, a cheerful employee offered to take our family's picture - her specific job for the afternoon. Though it was surely busy and the line wound down the steps and curled in front of the store front, everyone was kind and for the most part, very pleasant.
I expected it to be busy, as it was a Saturday afternoon, overcast, yet balmy and warm. We arrived around 1:30pm. We learned that if you want your pick of the food trucks for lunch, you should probably come earlier than we did. Rumor has it that there are some pretty incredible grilled cheese sandwiches at one of the trucks - but almost all of the trucks were almost out of food by the time we got there. We ended up having some delicious burgers - can't complain - it just would've been nice to have a little more selection. Our bad.
However, while my wonderful husband waited in line (he had to wait a good 45 minutes to order and receive our food), I took the kids over to the green space to play.
Now, it is not real grass. It is astro turf! Which at first was weird, but actually made a lot of sense. And made it super fun for the kids to kick off their shoes and take part in the variety of lawn game offerings that they have provided. They have hula hoops, footballs, frisbies, and other games for kids and families to play as they wait for their food or wind down once they've eaten. It really saved the day from a long wait in line with over-hungry and tired kids. My husband thought the idea was genius as well, for husbands who have to wait around while their wives are shopping in the market ;)
Okay, so I totally kicked off my shoes as well and had a super fun time playing with the kids, and nursing my hungry baby, as we waited for my patient and saintly husband to get our food. I've only been to Waco a few times, but it has never struck me as a super awesome place to be. Yes, it is a college town, it has a few notable stops in town, but, it's really this small town in between Dallas and Austin and nothing I would really blink at. But as I looked around, outside the market, at the Silos, at the train tracks, I was somehow charmed. I mean, this place has potential. There are some cute little shops around and I fell in love with what Chip and Joanna were doing in trying to bring new life - and a sense of community - back to the heart of Waco. It just felt good.
Finally, we got our food and devoured it. It was delicious. And then, while Jacob got his turn at football on the lawn with our boys, the girls and I snuck away to take a peek at the Garden and inside the store. It wasn't as crowded by now, so we walked right in and walked around admiring the cute little home goods. I allllllmost bought Joanna's signature candle, but decided I need to finish burning the favorite anthropologie candle before purchasing another. And really, that is it - there is nothing super novel about the store - you can find most of the items or similar in stores like anthropologie or home goods. But if you're a real die hard Magnolia fan, you can also find everything in the store on-line, so do not fret ;)
As we walked to the back of the store, the smell of kettle corn was overwhelming - in a good way. In a come-and-eat-me-right-now way. I didn't have as much self control with the kettle corn as I did the candle, so stepped in line and stepped out of the store searching for my husband. Fresh, sweet kettle corn would be the perfect little snack before heading home, yes?
We were there over three hours. And while I still may not understand all of the background behind this new space, I can say, next time we're in Waco, we'd gladly stop again for another couple of hours. We'll grab some food and practice our hula hooping skills. We may even come home with a signature candle ;)
Well done, Chip and Joanna!
